API INTEGRATIONS

UK businesses with Xero, Salesforce, and a Shopify store that cannot share data automatically are operating three separate systems that each know one-third of the customer. An API integration layer connects them so every system has the full picture.

Ignited Nepal plans and builds API integrations for UK businesses: from Xero-CRM connections and HMRC Making Tax Digital implementation to Shopify-to-fulfilment automation and GoCardless webhook handling.

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This is for you if

Who This Is For

UK online retailers with a Shopify store, Xero for accounting, and a CRM for customer management are running three systems that share no data by default. Every order is an event that needs to be recorded in all three places. When it is recorded manually, it is recorded inconsistently. When it is not recorded promptly, invoicing is delayed and customer lifetime value data is incomplete. An integration layer that routes Shopify order data to Xero for automated invoicing, to the 3PL or warehouse for fulfilment, and to the CRM for customer record update eliminates the manual handling at every step.

UK fintech and financial services businesses building account aggregation, transaction categorisation, or cash flow forecasting applications need to connect to Open Banking APIs under the PSD2 framework. Providers including TrueLayer, Yapily, and Plaid UK offer the bank connection layer. The integration work involves OAuth authentication for bank account authorisation, transaction data handling and categorisation logic, refresh token management for ongoing data access, and compliance with the data sharing and consent requirements of PSD2. This is a technically specific integration that requires financial data handling experience.

UK accountancy practices and bookkeeping firms managing VAT returns for their clients have a direct efficiency opportunity in the HMRC Making Tax Digital API. MTD-compatible software can submit VAT return figures directly to HMRC without manual re-entry into the HMRC portal. For practices managing a high volume of client VAT returns, the integration eliminates a significant manual step at each quarterly submission period and removes the risk of transposition errors in the submission figures.

UK SaaS and subscription businesses using Stripe for payment processing and HubSpot for CRM have a commercially significant integration opportunity. Stripe payment events, including subscription created, payment succeeded, payment failed, and subscription cancelled, each represent a change in the customer's commercial relationship with the business. When these events are not connected to the CRM, the sales and customer success team is working from incomplete data. An integration that passes Stripe events to HubSpot in real time gives the team visibility of payment status, renewal dates, and churn risk without logging into Stripe separately.

What's broken

What's Broken

Xero and CRM not connected

UK businesses with Xero as their accounting platform and HubSpot or Salesforce as their CRM are managing the most commercially important data relationship in the business, the connection between sales activity and invoice payment, across two systems that do not communicate. Invoice payment status is not visible in the CRM. A sales team member chasing a client for a decision may not know that the finance team is simultaneously chasing the same client for an overdue invoice. A customer marked as a strong renewal prospect in the CRM may have three unpaid invoices in Xero. The Xero API provides real-time access to invoice creation, payment, and status events. A Xero-to-CRM integration maps these events to the relevant CRM contact or deal record and updates payment status without any manual entry.

HMRC Making Tax Digital API not implemented

UK VAT-registered businesses that are not using MTD-compatible software to submit their VAT returns are still re-entering figures manually into the HMRC online portal. The HMRC Making Tax Digital API accepts VAT return submissions directly from MTD-compatible accounting software, including Xero, Sage, and QuickBooks, all of which are already MTD-compatible at the product level. The integration gap is typically at the practice level: accountants who have not connected their client's accounting software to HMRC's MTD API gateway, or businesses that have not enabled the MTD connection in their own accounting software. The manual re-entry step is both time-consuming and a source of submission errors that are entirely preventable.

Shopify order data not flowing to fulfilment systems

UK e-commerce businesses with Shopify as their storefront and a third-party logistics provider or warehouse management system handling fulfilment are creating a manual data transfer step between the point of sale and the point of dispatch. Order details confirmed in Shopify need to be in the 3PL or WMS system before picking and packing can begin. At order volumes above approximately 50 per day, manual entry into the fulfilment system is not sustainable and introduces errors that create wrong-address dispatches and missed orders. A Shopify webhook connected to the 3PL's API pushes each confirmed order into the fulfilment system at the moment of checkout, with no manual step between them.

GoCardless direct debit not connected to CRM

UK subscription businesses that collect recurring payments via GoCardless and manage customer relationships in a CRM are running the payment and relationship management functions in complete isolation. A GoCardless payment failure, the most commercially critical event in a direct debit subscription, does not trigger any activity in the CRM unless someone logs into GoCardless, sees the failure, and manually creates a follow-up task. GoCardless provides webhook events for all significant direct debit lifecycle stages: payment created, payment paid, payment failed, mandate cancelled. Connecting these webhooks to CRM automation means that a failed payment automatically creates a task, triggers a dunning email, or updates the contact's subscription status in the CRM without anyone having to check GoCardless manually.

What we engineer

What We Do

API integration diagnostic

We begin with an API integration diagnostic: a structured review of the existing business systems, the data that currently moves between them manually, and the API capabilities of each platform. The diagnostic maps every manual data transfer step in the business and identifies which ones can be eliminated through an API connection, and in what order of commercial priority.

E-commerce integration stack

For UK e-commerce businesses, the typical integration stack we build connects Shopify to Xero for automated order-to-invoice creation, Shopify to the 3PL or warehouse system for automated order fulfilment, and Shopify or the CRM to a customer lifetime value tracking tool. Where the CRM is HubSpot or Salesforce, we build the Shopify order history connection so that the CRM shows the full purchase history of each customer alongside their marketing and sales engagement data.

HMRC Making Tax Digital implementation

For HMRC Making Tax Digital implementation, we connect the client's accounting software, typically Xero, Sage, or QuickBooks, to the HMRC MTD API gateway, configure the VAT return submission workflow, test the submission against HMRC's sandbox environment, and confirm the first live submission. For accountancy practices managing multiple client MTD connections, we build the multi-client submission workflow and document the process for their team.

Open Banking integrations

For Open Banking integrations, we select the appropriate PSD2 data provider based on the banks the client needs to connect to, build the OAuth authorisation flow for end-user bank account connection, configure the transaction data ingestion and storage, and build the data transformation layer that maps raw transaction data into the categories and structures required by the client's application.

Stripe-to-HubSpot integrations

For Stripe-to-HubSpot integrations, we connect the Stripe webhook events to HubSpot via the HubSpot API, map each Stripe event type to the appropriate HubSpot action (contact property update, deal stage change, task creation, or sequence enrolment) and test the full lifecycle from new subscription to payment failure to cancellation.

Error handling and monitoring on every integration

We write error handling and monitoring into every integration we build. If a webhook fails to deliver, if an API request returns an error, or if a data mapping produces an unexpected result, the failure is logged, an alert is sent, and the integration falls into a retry or error queue rather than silently dropping data. We document the complete integration architecture including authentication, data mapping, error handling, and monitoring configuration.

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What changes

What Changes

Before
After
Before UK businesses with Xero as their accounting platform and HubSpot or Salesforce as their CRM are managing the most commercially important data relationship in the business, the connection between sales activity and invoice payment, across two systems that do not communicate. Invoice payment status is not visible in the CRM. A sales team member chasing a client for a decision may not know that the finance team is simultaneously chasing the same client for an overdue invoice. A customer marked as a strong renewal prospect in the CRM may have three unpaid invoices in Xero. The Xero API provides real-time access to invoice creation, payment, and status events. A Xero-to-CRM integration maps these events to the relevant CRM contact or deal record and updates payment status without any manual entry.
After Invoice payment status is visible in the CRM in real time. When Xero is connected to HubSpot or Salesforce, every payment event in Xero updates the relevant CRM record immediately. Sales and customer success teams can see payment status without switching to Xero. Finance teams no longer receive calls from sales asking whether an invoice has been paid.
Before UK VAT-registered businesses that are not using MTD-compatible software to submit their VAT returns are still re-entering figures manually into the HMRC online portal. The HMRC Making Tax Digital API accepts VAT return submissions directly from MTD-compatible accounting software, including Xero, Sage, and QuickBooks, all of which are already MTD-compatible at the product level. The integration gap is typically at the practice level: accountants who have not connected their client's accounting software to HMRC's MTD API gateway, or businesses that have not enabled the MTD connection in their own accounting software. The manual re-entry step is both time-consuming and a source of submission errors that are entirely preventable.
After VAT return submission is automated and error-free. When the MTD API connection is active, VAT return figures are submitted directly from the accounting software to HMRC without re-entry. The submission timestamp is recorded in the accounting software, and the HMRC acknowledgement is received in the same workflow. The manual re-entry step and its associated error risk are removed.
Before UK e-commerce businesses with Shopify as their storefront and a third-party logistics provider or warehouse management system handling fulfilment are creating a manual data transfer step between the point of sale and the point of dispatch. Order details confirmed in Shopify need to be in the 3PL or WMS system before picking and packing can begin. At order volumes above approximately 50 per day, manual entry into the fulfilment system is not sustainable and introduces errors that create wrong-address dispatches and missed orders. A Shopify webhook connected to the 3PL's API pushes each confirmed order into the fulfilment system at the moment of checkout, with no manual step between them.
After Shopify orders reach the fulfilment system instantly. When the Shopify-to-3PL integration is live, every confirmed order appears in the warehouse system within seconds of checkout completion. Picking can begin without waiting for a manual transfer. Fulfilment lead times reduce. Order accuracy improves because there is no manual re-entry between the order record and the pick list.
Before UK subscription businesses that collect recurring payments via GoCardless and manage customer relationships in a CRM are running the payment and relationship management functions in complete isolation. A GoCardless payment failure, the most commercially critical event in a direct debit subscription, does not trigger any activity in the CRM unless someone logs into GoCardless, sees the failure, and manually creates a follow-up task. GoCardless provides webhook events for all significant direct debit lifecycle stages: payment created, payment paid, payment failed, mandate cancelled. Connecting these webhooks to CRM automation means that a failed payment automatically creates a task, triggers a dunning email, or updates the contact's subscription status in the CRM without anyone having to check GoCardless manually.
After Failed direct debit payments trigger immediate CRM action. When GoCardless webhooks are connected to CRM automation, a payment failure creates the follow-up workflow automatically. The dunning email goes out on time. The customer success task is created. The subscription status is updated in the CRM record. None of this requires anyone to log into GoCardless and notice the failure.
How it works

Process

  1. 01

    API Integration Diagnostic

    We review the existing business systems, the data flows between them, the APIs available in each platform, and the manual steps that currently bridge the gaps. We produce a prioritised integration map with commercial impact estimates for each integration.

  2. 02

    Integration Architecture Design

    For each integration in scope, we design the data flow: what triggers the integration, what data is passed, how it is transformed, where it is written, and how errors are handled. We confirm the architecture with the business before building begins.

  3. 03

    Authentication and Security Setup

    We configure the API authentication for each integration: OAuth where required, API keys where applicable, and webhook secret verification for inbound webhook handling. We confirm that credentials are stored securely and not exposed in code or configuration files.

  4. 04

    Integration Build

    We build each integration according to the agreed architecture. For native integrations via Zapier or Make, we configure the workflow and test each step. For custom integrations requiring middleware or direct API calls, we build and deploy the code with full error handling and logging.

  5. 05

    Sandbox and Live Testing

    We test each integration against the sandbox or test environment of each platform before going live. For HMRC MTD, we use HMRC's sandbox. For Stripe, we use Stripe's test mode. For Xero, we use a test organisation. We confirm the expected outputs at each step before connecting to live data.

  6. 06

    Monitoring Setup and Handover

    We configure error alerting and integration monitoring so that any failure produces an immediate notification rather than a silent data gap. We document the full integration architecture and provide handover training for the business's technical or operations team.

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Common questions

FAQ

How do I integrate Xero with HubSpot or Salesforce to sync invoice payment status automatically for a UK business?

Xero has a native HubSpot integration available through HubSpot's app marketplace that syncs contacts and provides invoice visibility within HubSpot, though its functionality is limited to basic contact and invoice data. For more granular control over which Xero events trigger which HubSpot actions, such as creating a task on invoice overdue, updating a deal stage on payment received, or sending a sequence on invoice sent, a Zapier or Make workflow provides the specificity required. Salesforce integration with Xero is available via Breadwinner or DBSync, both of which are purpose-built Xero-Salesforce connectors with more complete data mapping than a general automation platform provides.

How do I use HMRC's Making Tax Digital API to automate VAT return submission from accounting software?

HMRC's MTD API requires the accounting software to be registered as an MTD-compatible application in HMRC's developer portal. For businesses using Xero, Sage, or QuickBooks, this compatibility is built into the software. The MTD connection is activated by linking the accounting software to the business's HMRC gateway credentials within the software's settings. For accountancy practices managing client submissions, each client's HMRC gateway account must be authorised separately. HMRC provides a sandbox environment for testing MTD API submissions before live submissions are made. The submission payload format is specified in HMRC's MTD VAT API documentation and the accounting software handles the formatting, so no custom API development is required for standard MTD submissions.

How do I build a Shopify-to-3PL order fulfilment API integration for a UK e-commerce business?

The integration between Shopify and a 3PL fulfilment system is typically built using Shopify's order webhook. The order creation event fires as soon as a customer completes checkout. The webhook payload contains the full order details including line items, quantities, shipping address, and customer information. This payload is passed to the 3PL's API to create a fulfilment order in their system. Most established UK 3PLs provide an API for this purpose. Where the 3PL does not have an API, the order data can be pushed to an SFTP endpoint or a shared order management platform. The integration also needs to handle the return path: when the 3PL marks an order as despatched, the Shopify order should be updated as fulfilled and a tracking number returned to the customer.

How do I connect GoCardless webhook events to CRM automation for a UK subscription business?

GoCardless provides a webhook endpoint configuration in its dashboard where you can register a URL to receive event notifications. Each GoCardless event type, including payment_created, payment_paid, payment_failed, mandate_cancelled, and subscription_finished, sends a signed payload to the registered URL. The receiving endpoint needs to verify the webhook signature using the GoCardless-provided secret, parse the event type, and route it to the appropriate CRM action. In HubSpot, this is done by passing the parsed event data to HubSpot's API to update contact properties, create tasks, or trigger workflows. GoCardless's documentation provides the full event schema and signature verification method. For businesses that prefer a no-code approach, Zapier has a GoCardless integration that handles the webhook receipt and routing without custom code.

What Open Banking API providers work best for UK financial data aggregation under PSD2?

TrueLayer is the most widely adopted Open Banking API provider for UK fintech and financial services applications, with bank coverage across all major UK current account providers and a well-documented developer API. Yapily offers comparable UK bank coverage with a slightly different authentication model and is preferred by some developers for its consistency across European bank connections. Plaid UK entered the UK Open Banking market and is a strong option for businesses that already use Plaid in the US and want to extend to UK bank connections. The right provider depends on the specific UK banks that need to be connected, the volume of data requests anticipated, and whether EU bank connections are also required. All three operate under PSD2 and provide the required consent and authorisation flows for regulatory compliance.

Start here

Closing CTA

UK businesses running Xero, a CRM, Shopify, and GoCardless as separate systems are carrying a manual data transfer cost that shows up as administrative overhead, delayed invoicing, missed follow-ups on payment failures, and incomplete CRM records. The API integrations that connect these systems are buildable, documented, and in most cases faster to implement than the businesses assuming they require months of engineering work. Ignited Nepal runs an API Integration Diagnostic that maps every manual data transfer in the current setup and produces a prioritised plan for replacing each one with an automated connection. The diagnostic is the starting point.

Request an API Integration Diagnostic →